Non-Profit Hospice Foundation

Most Hospice organizations depend on generous donations of time, money and compassionate care. During our four decades of service, we have benefited from countless hours of volunteer service and contributions of financial support, unused medical supplies, and equipment. What makes our non-profit foundation unique, however, is that 100% of all donated monies go directly back to Hospice patients and their families. No donated funds ever go towards operating costs or overhead. Our Board of Directors (described below) are the wonderful people responsible for overseeing the U.P. Hospice Foundation and the dispersal of donated funds to Hospice patients. Their mission is to support the Living Philosophy of our Hospice. The Make-a-Memory Program is the primary way this is accomplished.

Click Here to read some of the beautiful examples of the Make-A-Memory program.

U.P. Hospice Foundation Board of Directors

Cindy Nyquist
Founder-U.P. Home Health & Hospice

Cindy is the Founder of U.P. Home Health & Hospice and serves as the ex-officio Board Member of the U.P. Hospice Foundation. Cindy introduced the Philosophy of Hospice to the Upper Peninsula in 1973. Cindy recognized that this philosophy was desperately needed to provide the necessary care to individuals and their families diagnosed with a Life-Limiting Disease. Hospice care became a Life-Long Vocation for Cindy and she has inspired many to join this worthy goal. Cindy continues to be a local, regional, and national expert and presenter regarding Hospice and Palliative Care. You will still find her meeting personally with families when they are making the decision about whether Hospice and Palliative care is the best choice for them. She regularly shares, with anyone who will listen, that Hospice is about LIVING and PEP (Palliation, Empowerment, and Priorities).

Dave Aro
Executive Director

Dave is the Co-Administrator/Operations for U.P. Home Health & Hospice as of January 2016 and has been the Executive Director of the UP Hospice Foundation since April of 2013 in a volunteer capacity. Dave began his work career in 1990 with UP Home Health & Hospice after graduating from Michigan Tech University, and worked into the CEO position with Professional Rehabilitation Services & Management (an affiliate of UPHHH) following that position until 1998 when he began working with Bell Hospital. Dave worked up to be the Vice President of Operations at Bell Hospital, overseeing all rehabilitation services and physician clinics, along with the Bell Foundation and other areas until leaving in 2012. Dave and several partners started Superior Rehabilitation & Professional Services then Active Physical Therapy in Ishpeming and Negaunee, which has grown into a nearly 50 employee venture as of the end of 2015. Dave’s involvement in the community includes being the 2015-16 Leader of the Marquette County Ambassadors, Officer of the Lake Superior Community Partnership, Vice Chair of the Ishpeming DDA, and many years of involvement in Kiwanis.

Jeremy Hansen
Funeral Director/Owner Swanson-Lundquist Funeral Home

Jeremy is a 1998 graduate of Wayne State University where he received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Mortuary Science, Summa Cum Laude. He is the owner of the Fassbender Funeral Home and the Swanson–Lundquist Funeral Home. Jeremy currently serves as the District 10 President for Michigan Funeral Directors Association. He is also a member of the Marquette General Hospital Pastoral Advisory Committee, Marquette Noon Kiwanis Club, Downtown Development Authority, Upper Peninsula Family Solutions. Hansen currently resides in Marquette.

Susan Wideman Schaible
Attorney/Owner-Wideman Law Center P.C.

Susan is the owner of the Wideman Law Center P.C., located in Marquette, Michigan. She began the process of building her elder law and disability rights practice in May of 2002, and currently serves over 2000 individuals and families throughout the Upper Peninsula and Northern Michigan. Susan has served on the Boards of several senior-focused and state and community service organizations including the Michigan Commission on Services to the Aging State Advisory Council on Aging , Marquette County Commission on Aging, the Marquette/Alger Alzheimer’s Association Wraparound Program, Marquette Noon Rotary, the Negaunee Township Planning Commission, the Negaunee School Board, and the Negaunee Community Fund. Ms. Wideman Schaible is a frequent presenter on Ask The Lawyers and the Channel 6 Money Report. Her articles on Elder Law and Estate Planning issues have appeared in the Marquette Mining Journal, Marquette Monthly, and Mature Citizen. She is a member of the State Bar of Michigan, the Marquette County Bar Association, and the National Association of Elder Law Attorneys. Susan earned her law degree from The Thomas Cooley Law School, in Lansing, Michigan and her undergraduate degree in Design and Environmental Analysis from Cornell University, in Ithaca, N.Y. She and her family live in Negaunee Township, Michigan.

Kent Jenema
Pharmacist/Owner-Peninsula Pharmacy

Kent Graduated from Ferris State University in 1980 as a Registered Pharmacist. He moved to Marquette County from Marion Michigan in 1981 and has practiced pharmacy in Marquette County since. Kent purchased Peninsula Pharmacy in 1997 and is an active and involved pharmacy owner. His passion for pharmacy lies within the ability to care for individuals and be actively involved with hospice care. Kent is a member of the Michigan Pharmacy Association and National Community Pharmacy Association. He is an Avid outdoorsman and competitive mountain biker as well as Nordic Skier. He competes in many events throughout the year including Wisconsin Off Road Series mountain bike races, the Ore To Shore, the VASA ski race as well as the Noquemanon to name a few. Kent is one of only a small handful of people that have competed in every edition of the Ore-To-Shore mountain bike race.

Jesse Bell
President-Bell Financial

Jesse is a lifelong resident of the Upper Peninsula, educated at Northern Michigan University wherehe earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Personal Finance. He has been working in the financial services industry since 1996 and has been President of Bell Financial since 2001, where he and his team provide investment management and financial planning services to organizations and families. Jesse’s commitment to the upper Michigan community is reflected in his volunteer activities which include: Officer of the Lake Superior Community Partnership, past Leader of the Marquette County Ambassadors, past Chairman of the Ishpeming Downtown Development Authority, and past Chairman of the Great Lakes Center for Youth Development board of directors. Jesse enjoys many of the outdoor recreation opportunities afforded to Yoopers: cross country skiing, mountain biking, backcountry snowmobiling, family camping and his current passion, dual-sport motorcycling. He also spends some time in his wood shop where he does woodturning and cabinetmaking. Jesse lives in Ishpeming with his son Breck, who is active in middle school athletics, and his daughter Lily, who has an uncanny ability to make people laugh without uttering a word.

Nheena Ittner
Founder/Director-Upper Peninsula Children’s Museum

Nheena is a University of Michigan graduate and was an art teacher downstate and in Ishpeming for many years, as well as a practicing artist. Nheena has two children who both live in Detroit. Her oldest is a resident working in Family Care and her youngest is a Grant Writer for the Detroit Music Hall. Her significant other, Neil Cumberlidge is a biology professor at NMU. They reside on Lakewood Lane. She is the proud owner of the world’s cutest dog, Daisy, a 3 1/2 lb. Chihuahua / Yorkie mix.

Bob is a Michigan native born in Detroit and raised in Munising. Bob graduated from Northern Michigan University in 1973 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Service and Sociology. Bob began employment with Marquette General hospital in 1979 where he held multiple management positions including 22 years as a Senior Administrator. He retired from MGH in 2008 and then worked for Excalibur Medical Imaging as Manager of the Professional Radiology Service until the hospital discontinued the company’s contract. He then joined U.P. Home Health & Hospice in 2011. Over the years he has been very active in the Marquette community serving as President of the areas Chamber of Commerce, past Leader of the Marquette County Ambassadors and several state organizations.

Julie Shaw
Aging Services and RSVP Director for Marquette County

As director, Julie serves 7 townships: Forsyth, Sands, West Branch, Skandia, Wells, Turin and Ewing. Julie studied at NMU majoring in special education/elementary education with a minor in psychology. Before becoming the senior center director, Julie was the program director for the South County YMCA and prior to her YMCA days was a paraprofessional employed by the Gwinn Area Community Schools. After caregiving for many years for her father who had dementia; Julie grew to love working with the senior population and wanted to reach out to other caregivers in her community. Julie enjoys involvement in her community: she’s been a school board member for 8 years, is currently the chairman of the Upper Great Lakes Family Health Center Board, and has been involved with St. Vincent De Paul’s for many years. She has lived in the Gwinn area with her husband Rod for the past 23 years in his grandparents 100 year old home. They have a son and a daughter.

Gary L. Walker
Retired Prosecuting Attorney

Gary received his Juris Doctor from the University of Michigan in 1971. His Bachelor of Arts degree (Cum Laude) is from Michigan State University in 1968. Mr. Walker served as the Prosecuting Attorney for Marquette County, Michigan from 1974 until his retirement in December 2011, having been elected nine times. He was a member of the Board of Directors and past President of the Prosecuting Attorneys Association of Michigan. He also served as chairperson of the Prosecuting Attorneys Coordinating Council (PACC), a five member board that oversees the education and training of prosecutors in Michigan. Mr. Walker has testified in both Congress and the State Legislature on criminal justice issues and was a frequent presenter in state and national legal education conferences. Mr. Walker was recently successful in his campaign for Supervisor of Chocolay Township. In his spare time, Gary enjoys fly fishing and hunting.

Frank Welsh, MD
Retired Doctor

Pennsylvania native, Dr. Frank Welsh, graduated from Stritch School of Medicine, of Loyola University in Chicago, Illinois. He served in the U.S. Army for five years during which he completed a residency in Internal Medicine at Madigan Army Hospital in Tacoma,Washington. He completed a fellowship in Gastroenterology at Loyola’s medical complex in Maywood, Illinois and was an assistant professor of medicine for a year after his fellowship. He then came to Marquette to begin a private practice in consultative gastroenterology for thirty-three years. He retired from practice in 2010.

The father of two daughters and a son, Dr. Welsh relishes time spent with them and with his four grandchildren. He enjoys sailing, gardening, cross-country skiing, biking and reading history.

Jan Wickstrom
Retired School Teacher

Jan Wickstrom was born and raised in Morenci, MI and has spent every summer in Traverse City until 2015. Jan graduated in 1973 with a B.A. from Northern Michigan University and earned her teaching degree a year later. She taught 5th grade for 31 years, retiring 10 years ago in 2006. Jan is married to Don Wickstrom and has one son, two step-sons, and a baby girl grand-child on the way.

Jan has personally used U.P. Home Health & Hospice for herself and her mother. Her mother was in Hospice with UPHH the remaining week of her life. Jan commented, “U.P. Home Health & Hospice made it so much easier on my mother and our family by being in their care. We are forever grateful to them and it is an honor to serve on the Hospice Foundation Board.”